Something to talk about
If youve read and thought too much about the Stanley Cup riot, the following event isnt for you, but if you think the trashing of downtown Vancouver deserves a little more scrutiny keep July 9 open in your schedule. The Vancouver District Students Council is hosting a youth forum called Vancouver Riot: Lets talk about it in the Alice McKay room at Vancouver Central Library.
It runs from noon to 4 p.m. Participants will share ideas and choose a project to take on as a city, according to organizers, who say the event is designed to prove youth care about Vancouver. Its open to young people aged 24 and under from across the Lower Mainland. The event is being organized in partnership with the Vancouver School Board, the Vancouver Public Library and the City of Vancouver. As of Wednesday morning, close to 150 people indicated they planned to attend, according to the forums Facebook page. It could be an interesting discussion judging by online remarks. One student posted a message stating, Its amazing to see how youth are taking on the responsibility to recover a mistake that a much bigger crowd created. Im definitely spreading the word about this! LETS HEAL OUR CITY
Another wrote, I have a problem with the description of the event. Its not for youth to prove that we care about Vancouver and its not about gaining out [sic] world reputation back. We dont have anything to prove and who cares what people think about us. What I do care about is how my fellow Vancouverites are, why theyre doing stupid shit like this and how we can prevent it. Its about taking care of our city whether it be the safety of its citizens and property, or the mental health of its citizens.
Playtime
Volunteers gather this Saturday to build a playground at Champlain Heights elementary school at 6955 Frontenac St. in the southeast corner of Vancouver. The design is based on drawings created by children who took part in a design day in May. It will serve more than 21,000 children and their families in the neighbourhood and replaces a dilapidated wooden playground thats more than 20 years old.
The project is thanks to school and community volunteers, Unity of Life Canada, a Foresters companya wholly owned subsidiary of The Independent Order of Foresters, and KaBoom, a national non-profit dedicated to saving play. Many schools across Vancouver are fundraising to replace aging playground equipment.
Earth school
Grandview/?uuqinakuuh elementary is preparing to build its new natural playground. The inner city school at Woodland Drive and Fourth Avenue has transformed itself into a so-called Earth School, which focuses on four environmental themes that rotate annuallywater, forest, earth and sky. Complementing the new theme is a natural playscape made possible by a $100,000 grant funded by ING Direct that will see Ontario-based Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds redo Grandviews existing landscape. ING Direct is looking for 150 volunteers to help build the playground on July 20. Register at orangeinthecommunity.eventbrite.com The Grandview Earth School was profiled in the Courier Feb. 25 in an article entitled Earth Tones.
Twitter: @Naoibh
